Rocco Infelise
Ernest Rocco "Rocky" Infelise (May 16, 1924- July 21 2005) was a feared Chicago Outfit mobster and enforcer. Biography Infelise was born In Chicago. He first became an associate of James "Turk" Torello, who was a mob hitman. Infelise rose to the heights of the Chicago mob with a combination of brutality and ruthlessness unequaled by few of his peers. In April 1956, Chicago police were conducting a surveillance of a garage at the rear of 5037 W. Oakdale in Chicago. The garage contained more than $100,000 worth of stolen drugs. The owner had rented space to Thomas Gateo, who was actually Torello. On April 26, Torello, Infelise and two other men, entered the garage and were arrested but later released. Infelise would hangout at a restaurant on North Avenue, Melrose Park. During his mob career he was arrested more than a dozen times for murder, burglary and as a prime suspect in several arsons. In 1964, he was called as a witness in the arson fire at Pedicone's Restaurant in Lyons. His wife at that time was Rosemarie. He had an ownership interest in the Guest House Restaurant, which had been burned down in 1962, and in the Lido Motel on Mannheim Road. Infelise was subpoenaed to testify in the trial of Sam Giancana, and he was identified as one of 15 men considered hitmen by the FBI. In 1966, Infelise was indicted with Vincent "The Saint" Inserro on charges of failing to file his income taxes, he was also convicted of hijacking and sent to Leavenworth where he spent several years until he was paroled in 1972. Infelise held a job at McCormick Place as a laborer for Teamsters Union 714. After another stay in the penitentiary, Infelise was released in 1975 and returned to work at JEP Trucking, which also allegedly had been partially owned by Torello and Sam Carlisi. Infelise was a constant companion of reputed mob hitman and former Chicago Cardinal Lineman Wayne Bock and Joseph Ferriola. Infelise governed a mob betting ring based in Cicero that allegedly grossed profits of $1.2 million a year. Infelise contended on undercover tapes collected by an FBI informant that he paid $5,000 a month to an unnamed law enforcement officer Infelise referred to as "Whiskers" who provided information on police investigations into gambling and the West Side mob's activities. Infelise also paid patrol officers to perform errands. Infelise also maintained a "Christmas Fund" to dole out money to politicians and the wives and girlfriends of crew members who were jailed. Conviction Prior to the 1992 trial, Infelise was arrested in November 1972 and charged as a crime syndicate terrorist and commercial gambler. He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years, serving several years, for heroin trafficking. As a reward for remaining silent in prison, Infelise was given a job at McCormick Place, ostensibly to oversee illegal activities there. A subsequent hiring scandal there forced him and other mob associates out of their McCormick place union jobs. Infelise was indicted on Feb. 7, 1990 and convicted of 20 counts of racketeering on March 10, 1992, but the jury split on charges that he was involved in the conspiracy to murder a bookie. Infelise was sentenced to 63 years on August 19, 1993. He died in a federal prison medical center near Boston at the age of 82. Category:Chicago Outfit Category:Capos